Grant: Project Grant

The world is facing the highest numbers of forcibly displaced people and refugees ever seen. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees says that about 69 million people have been forced to flee from their homes because of war, famine, persecution, natural disasters and other crises. Canada has been a global leader in accepting refugees and asylum seekers for over 60 years, especially in the face of humanitarian crises. In keeping with this tradition Canada accepted almost 41,000 refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war from November 2015 to January 2017 in a program called the Syrian Refugee Initiative. Also, 116,990 people claimed asylum in Canada from 2016 to 2018. Combined, this increase in refugees and asylum seekers can put stress on Canada's refugee healthcare and public health systems. Once in Canada, refugees often have complicated medical issues and social needs that are often caused by previous lack of access to food, housing, medical care, or because of traumatic experiences during their migration to Canada. For the Syrian Refugee Initiative, many cities and towns across Canada accepted refugees, many of which use different care models. Despite Canada's experience caring for refugees, the best way to deliver healthcare to newly arrived refugees is not clear, nor is where and what different care models exist. We aim to complete a study to better understand and describe how different cities and regions in Canada care for new refugees and asylum seekers. To do this, we will survey refugee healthcare, public health, and resettlement workers in cities that received 10 or more refugees during the Syrian Refugee Initiative and catalogue the different models of care. Our findings will be grouped together online into an interactive map to create an "atlas" of the Canadian refugee health system. This study will give us information that can be used to improve healthcare for refugees and asylum seekers and better prepare Canada for future humanitarian crises.